Steve shows you the predictable Resistance points that every writer hits in a work-in-progress and then shows you how to deal with each one of these sticking points. This book shows you how to keep going with your work.
A short book about the writing of a first novel: for Steve, The Legend of Bagger Vance. Having failed with three earlier attempts at novels, here's how Steve finally succeeded.
Steve shares his "lessons learned" from the trenches of the five different writing careers—advertising, screenwriting, fiction, nonfiction, and self-help. This is tradecraft. An MFA in Writing in 197 pages.
Amateurs have amateur habits. Pros have pro habits. When we turn pro, we give up the comfortable life but we find our power. Steve answers the question, "How do we overcome Resistance?"
Hemingway’s words in “Death in the Afternoon” capture it pretty well:
“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
Agreed, Mia. There’s something I’d shared in here before (maybe last year)…
I’m thinking again of “the beholder’s share” (term from art historian Alois Riegl).
Say you have a painting, but that painting is not complete until the viewer responds to it. Here’s a cool (5-min) talk by Eric Kandel (another Nobel Prize winner, his was in 2000). https://youtu.be/IoubVUSk7h0
He grabbed me with his brief discussion of why the Mona Lisa is considered one of the masterpieces of western art. He points to the ambiguity of her facial expression: Is she smiling or is she not? We’re EACH drawn in because we’re compelled to participate by engaging and wanting to understanding her. Since the beholder’s share varies for each of us, because we’re each bringing an element of our own creativity into it, we each derive our own meaning. We’re co-creating.
“There never was a script that didn’t get better with ten percent cut.”
I think that is great advice to all those who have TV shows on the various streamers and other platforms. Most of them have so much stuff to cut out that what remains would be good for 45 min of a movie. Yet they manage to draw it to eight episodes.
I haven’t seen a TV show for a long time that would require a brain to be watched.
I am cutting out lines from the text for a few weeks now I think. When I wrote them, the chapter was beautiful -more accurately, full of meanings and colors. But then I realized that when reading them my brain takes in so many information and images and so, even if they are all beautiful and important in their way, they make it delay, even get tired. It hurts to delete many of them, I know I spent a lot of time, endless hours creating and giving them life. On the other hand I felt this: hiding them, and thus forcing the reader to guess them or something like that (but notice that they exist in the first place, I didn’t just write plain text from the beginning) would create mystery and a sense of fulfillment. Fulfillment from austerity? That’s a paradox! In my life I found women with austere bodies and expressions the most attractive to me. I wondered some time about why I did, and I guess that I liked austerity as an energy of life, and on them it would symbolize the existence of beauty without anything to distract you from it, plain and simple -just that, nothing else. Its difficult to describe. I would guess that austerity, or focus only to what matters and nothing else, that goes along with other great characteristics, brings the sense of fulfillment because it is easy to focus on. I would prefer austerity that comes after a long road full of colors and battles though, although natural austerity has an exceptional and, I think, archetypical beauty too! The heart can’t tell the difference I guess.
I painted with a group of women for years. One of us was always reminding another to “put your brush down and sit on your hands.” Another nugget we shared was the magic of the trunk. Put your painting in the trunk of your car. Drive around for a week then look at it. With new eyes, it was either deemed finished or you would see what needed reworked. Thanks to all for the community.
Just as I enjoyed the Warrior videos on YouTube last summer, I am also enjoying the BOOKS I LOVE series. Thank you!! I enjoy reading your blog and the comments from your thoughtful readers. I will take this blog post into consideration while producing songs. I am still learning a lot and when I learn a new skill, I tend to overdo it. This is great advice to wait it out–less is more sometimes!
Informative post! Thank you for sharing this effective Coco Chanel advice for writers. We know that Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman, So I think many people will be benefited from this post. Actually, I am an online blogger, I especially write for the gaming industry and share many tips and guide to make money. So you may check this website Casinosters to find the latest casino offers and bonuses in the UK. I believe the online casino is one of the best ways to earn money by playing different types of games. Anyway, I appreciated the author for this good writing advice.
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His advices are excellent. When applying them, writers can improve their writing skills. The quality of work is so high. I strongly agree with his points.
By adopting a mindset of constant refinement and eliminating unnecessary elements, you can strengthen the impact and clarity of your writing. Remember, as Coco Chanel suggested, sometimes less is more.
Patronu aradığında sürekli hasta olduğunu söyleyerek iş yerine yalan söylüyor
porno hikaye Patronu artık bu kadarının gerçek olamayacağını ve rapor görmek istediğini dile getirip telefonu kapatıyor
türbanlı Olgun kadın hemen bilgisayarının başına geçip özel bir doktor buluyor ve onu arayarak evine davet ediyor
porno Muayene için eve gelen doktor olgun kadını muayene ediyor ve hiç bir sıkıntı olmadığını söylüyor
brazzers porno Sarışın ablamız ise iş yerine rapor götürmesi gerektiğini bu yüzden rapor yazmasını istiyor
brazzers porno fakat doktor bunun pek mümkün olmadığını dile getiriyor
sex hikayeleri Daha sonra evli olan bu kahpe doktora iş atarak ona yavşıyor ve istediğini alana kadar durmuyor
Porno İzle Karılarını takas etmek isteyen elemanlar hep birlikte evde buluşuyor
türkçe porno Güzel vakit geçirdikten sonra kızlara isteklerini iletiyorlar ve hatunlarda kocalarının bu isteklerini kabul ediyorlar
seks hikayeleri Hemen ellerine telefonları alan elemanlar karılarına video eşliğinde sakso çektiriyorlar
porno izle Hiç beklemeden sikişe geçen elemanlar hatunları değiştire değiştire sikmeye başlıyorlar.
Patronu aradığında sürekli hasta olduğunu söyleyerek iş yerine yalan söylüyor
porno hikaye Patronu artık bu kadarının gerçek olamayacağını ve rapor görmek istediğini dile getirip telefonu kapatıyor
türbanlı Olgun kadın hemen bilgisayarının başına geçip özel bir doktor buluyor ve onu arayarak evine davet ediyor
porno Muayene için eve gelen doktor olgun kadını muayene ediyor ve hiç bir sıkıntı olmadığını söylüyor
brazzers porno Sarışın ablamız ise iş yerine rapor götürmesi gerektiğini bu yüzden rapor yazmasını istiyor
brazzers porno fakat doktor bunun pek mümkün olmadığını dile getiriyor
sex hikayeleri Daha sonra evli olan bu kahpe doktora iş atarak ona yavşıyor ve istediğini alana kadar durmuyor
Porno İzle Karılarını takas etmek isteyen elemanlar hep birlikte evde buluşuyor
türkçe porno Güzel vakit geçirdikten sonra kızlara isteklerini iletiyorlar ve hatunlarda kocalarının bu isteklerini kabul ediyorlar
seks hikayeleri Hemen ellerine telefonları alan elemanlar karılarına video eşliğinde sakso çektiriyorlar
porno izle Hiç beklemeden sikişe geçen elemanlar hatunları değiştire değiştire sikmeye başlıyorlar.
Write fat. Get skinny.
The more work you can get the reader to do themselves, but without them realising that’s what they’re doing, the better…
Hell, get the readers to write the damn thing! 🙂
Hemingway’s words in “Death in the Afternoon” capture it pretty well:
“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.”
To give the reader, watcher, listener space for their own unique ah-ha moment is high art.
Agreed, Mia. There’s something I’d shared in here before (maybe last year)…
I’m thinking again of “the beholder’s share” (term from art historian Alois Riegl).
Say you have a painting, but that painting is not complete until the viewer responds to it. Here’s a cool (5-min) talk by Eric Kandel (another Nobel Prize winner, his was in 2000). https://youtu.be/IoubVUSk7h0
He grabbed me with his brief discussion of why the Mona Lisa is considered one of the masterpieces of western art. He points to the ambiguity of her facial expression: Is she smiling or is she not? We’re EACH drawn in because we’re compelled to participate by engaging and wanting to understanding her. Since the beholder’s share varies for each of us, because we’re each bringing an element of our own creativity into it, we each derive our own meaning. We’re co-creating.
🤣😂🤣
By Mr. Hemingway, the shortest story ever written:
“For sale:
Baby shoes. Never worn.”
It gets my eyes itchy just rewriting it.
Wonderful incites Mr. Pressfield, as always. Thank you.
Jesse,
Other good examples of a six-word story (from a recent posting by Narrative magazine):
Longed for him. Got him. Shit. —Margaret Atwood
Without thinking, I made two cups. —Alistair Daniel
Revenge is living well, without you. —Joyce Carol Oates
Just printed this whole thing, comments included, and stuck it on top of the 4th draft of something.
“There never was a script that didn’t get better with ten percent cut.”
I think that is great advice to all those who have TV shows on the various streamers and other platforms. Most of them have so much stuff to cut out that what remains would be good for 45 min of a movie. Yet they manage to draw it to eight episodes.
I haven’t seen a TV show for a long time that would require a brain to be watched.
Kill your darlings. I go too far and delete the whole damn thing sometimes.
“Just as listening is highly underrated, give the reader, viewer, the space to “hear” the depth of your message”
Mark Twain once said, “I didn’t have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one.”
Thank you again Steve,
I am cutting out lines from the text for a few weeks now I think. When I wrote them, the chapter was beautiful -more accurately, full of meanings and colors. But then I realized that when reading them my brain takes in so many information and images and so, even if they are all beautiful and important in their way, they make it delay, even get tired. It hurts to delete many of them, I know I spent a lot of time, endless hours creating and giving them life. On the other hand I felt this: hiding them, and thus forcing the reader to guess them or something like that (but notice that they exist in the first place, I didn’t just write plain text from the beginning) would create mystery and a sense of fulfillment. Fulfillment from austerity? That’s a paradox! In my life I found women with austere bodies and expressions the most attractive to me. I wondered some time about why I did, and I guess that I liked austerity as an energy of life, and on them it would symbolize the existence of beauty without anything to distract you from it, plain and simple -just that, nothing else. Its difficult to describe. I would guess that austerity, or focus only to what matters and nothing else, that goes along with other great characteristics, brings the sense of fulfillment because it is easy to focus on. I would prefer austerity that comes after a long road full of colors and battles though, although natural austerity has an exceptional and, I think, archetypical beauty too! The heart can’t tell the difference I guess.
Sounds like those women you describe may have taken Coco Chanel’s advice Tolis
Could be so, Jurgen! Thank you for commenting, and keep trying for your goal until the end. Never give up, never calm down.
Less is more? 🙂
Someone once said, “Simplify, Simplify, Simplify!” And, “wouldn’t one simplify have been enough?”
This week’s pearl of wisdom makes me feel less concerned about whether my book achieves 289 or so pages.
I love 😍 participating in this.
I painted with a group of women for years. One of us was always reminding another to “put your brush down and sit on your hands.” Another nugget we shared was the magic of the trunk. Put your painting in the trunk of your car. Drive around for a week then look at it. With new eyes, it was either deemed finished or you would see what needed reworked. Thanks to all for the community.
The discipline in crafting a moving haiku epitomises this.
Just as I enjoyed the Warrior videos on YouTube last summer, I am also enjoying the BOOKS I LOVE series. Thank you!! I enjoy reading your blog and the comments from your thoughtful readers. I will take this blog post into consideration while producing songs. I am still learning a lot and when I learn a new skill, I tend to overdo it. This is great advice to wait it out–less is more sometimes!
She was a collaborator with the Nazis in Paris.
No wonder they had such great uniforms.
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thank you for sharing..
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She had good quotes:
“The best color in the world is one that looks good on you.”
“Beauty begins the moment we choose to be ourselves.”
Thanks for sharing
Informative post! Thank you for sharing this effective Coco Chanel advice for writers. We know that Gabrielle Bonheur “Coco” Chanel was a French fashion designer and businesswoman, So I think many people will be benefited from this post. Actually, I am an online blogger, I especially write for the gaming industry and share many tips and guide to make money. So you may check this website Casinosters to find the latest casino offers and bonuses in the UK. I believe the online casino is one of the best ways to earn money by playing different types of games. Anyway, I appreciated the author for this good writing advice.
The more work you can get the reader to do themselves, but without them realising that’s what they’re doing, the better… Buy old Gmail accounts
An amazing suggestion, truly appreciate it.
Yes, writers do mistakes in writing itself like any other profession, because humans naturally make mistakes.
Finding the best betting sites is not easy. Online betting sites are launching every day. In this analysis, we provide answers on how to find the best betting sites and new online casinos easily, why do you need a thorough review of an online casino before you start playing.
His advices are excellent. When applying them, writers can improve their writing skills. The quality of work is so high. I strongly agree with his points.
thank you for sharing
By adopting a mindset of constant refinement and eliminating unnecessary elements, you can strengthen the impact and clarity of your writing. Remember, as Coco Chanel suggested, sometimes less is more.
Thank you for the info